Method of producing gas.



PATENTED 'MAY 12. 1908.

g P. BAUKB. METHOD OF PRODUCING GAS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 2, 1906.- I

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

jl orfmsg No. 887,058. PATENTED MAY 12, 1908.

F: BvAUKE. METHOD OF PRODUCING GAS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 2, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

rue NORRIS'FETERS co., WASHINGTON, n. c.

FRITZ BAUKE, OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

METHOD OF PRODUCING GAS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 12, 1908.

Application filed. May 2, 1906. Serial No. 31%860.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRITZ BAUKE, a subject of the King of Prussia, German Emperor, and resident of Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia, German Em ire, have invented a new and Improved h ethod for the Production of Gas, of which the following is an exact specification.

My invention relates to a novel and improved method of making generator gas.

It has been accepted commonly that in generators, such as suction or forcing gas generators, the zone of reaction must have a certain minimum height, since otherwise chiefly carbonic acid would be produced. It has also been observed that as a rule the o eration succeeds the better, the deeper tlfe zone of reaction, and the hotter the temperature maintained. In attempting to insure such conditions, a number of defects are met, especially when working on a small scale, such as the choking of the fire grate, whereby continual alterations of the cross sectional area for the passage of air or steam will occur, thus causing irregularities in the reaction and a variable composition of the gas produced. These irregularities offer many dif ficulties, but they could be overcome by removing the clinkers from the firegrate. In small works it is very difficult or even impossible to avoid these alterations of the cross sectional area, because the working of the apparatus has to be effected with the least ossible attention. I conceived the idea of avoiding this defect by the employment of a shallow zone of fire and by operating at a lower temperature, at which the slag of course is not so liquid and adherence does not take place easily, but in my first attempts I found that a gas was produced which was not serviceable on account of its richness in carbonic acid gas. Further we eriments in this direction have led to a perectly new process whereby a heating and power gas 0 a perfectly new composition is obtained and whereby the defects above mentioned are at the same time overcome.

The new process is carried out by the introduction of finely divided carbonaceous material into a fire zone having a very shallow depth, similar to that of a plane grate fire. \The finely divided carbonaceous material ,may be in the form of dust, of a liquid or of a gas. The introduction preferably takes place by means of steam and air serving as driving power and distributing means respectively.

I will now proceed to give an explanation of this particular process, as it will take place according to my opinion: As is well-known, in a plane grate furnace the fuel and air burn in such manner that the resulting combustion gases contain a very high percentage of carbonic acid and therefore are not suitable for heating and power purposes. In the usual generation processes a high temperature is produced by providing for a high column of glowing material and owing to t e great heat the products of distillation driven out by the heat and introduced from below into the hottest fire-zone are decom osed in such manner that the percentage of hydrocarbon is very high for obtaining a gas having a high caloric efiect. In the said usual process the high temperature of the resulting gas is a great defect.

In my process I form a shallow bed of the glowing and distilled material discharged from the feeding shaft and without the introduction of carbonaceous matter the resulting gas would have a high percentage of carbonic acid as usual in plane grate furnaces, that is to say such gas would represent an almost complete combination of carbon with oxygen to form carbonic acid and therefore would be unsuitable for heat and ower purposes. As soon, however, as finely divided carbonaceous matter thoroughly mixed with air is introduced into this shallow bed of fuel which otherwise would produce too much carbonic acid, the finely divided carbon in stat/u nascendi binds one molecule of the carbonic acid (CO just formed, according to the formula thus causing a large portion of the carbonic acid to be transformed into carbonic oxid, as will appear from the analysis results given hereinafter.

The height of the zone should vary in accordance with the quality of the combustible used. In using mineral coal having much ash, of course, thisheight must be greater than in the case of using best anthracite. In using, however, lignite and products coneoa are given as follows: I

tainin it a correspondingly higher fire zone shoul be used.

Convenient forms of furnaces which may be used for carryin out my new process are illustrated in the (Irawings annexed hereto.

Figures 1 and 2 represent vertical sections of furnaces showing a shallow fire zone and a horizontal fire grate. Fig. 3 is a similar view of afurnace having an inclined fire grate, and Fig. 4 shows a furnace having a vertical fire-grate.

The same reference letters designate the same parts in all the figures.

a is the wall of the furnace, b the base provided with an o ening for receiving the fire grate c, arrange horizontally in Fi s. 1 and 2. In the axis of the furnace a filling tube d is arranged leaving an annular space between the wall a, and the fillin tube.

(1 is a hopper which can e closed by means of a cover.

6 is an injector and e a pipe connecting the same with the u per part of the tube d.

The injector (2 disc arges into the nozzle f leading into the base below the fire grate c.

g indicates the shallow fire zone forming the so-called zone of .reduction.

The furnace as described works in the following manner: The material to be acted upon is distilled in the filling pipe d and descends to the zone of reduction 9 having a height such as is usual in plane-grate fires. The products of distillation driven out from the descending material by the waste gases are sucked by means of the steam injector e from the upper part of the pipe d and forced through the fire-grate 0 into the zone of reduction. The resulting generator gas is taken from the furnace at it. According to the Fig. 2 h drocarbons in a liquid state taken from t e vessel t are forced into the zone of reduction.

In Fig. 3 the furnace is similar to that of the Fig. 1, but has an inclined fire-grate c. The furnace shown in Fig. 4 is provided with a vertical fire grate c and a grating c for maintaining a shallow zone of reduction 9. As indicated by the arrow 19, the generator as rises after having passed through the re uction zone g.

In using coke and similar materials from which distillates will not be produced, mixtures of suitable materials such as distillates of tar, petroleum, garburetin ,.,oils and so on, with air and if desired wit steam, may beforced into the fire zone.

The gas made according to the method as before described has a composition some- What different from that produced from the same material by the usual processes, and above all, it contains a very low proportion of carbonic acid. Some chemical analyses of ases obtained by my new process from 1. r 2. Carbonic acid 8. 1 7. 4 Oxygen 1.8 1.6 Carbonic oxid 15. 6 19. 4 Hydrogen- 14.1 14. 4 Nitrogen 60.1 57. 2

It will be observed that in each form of my invention, I forcibly project against that side of the grate which is opposite to that from which the resulting gas is taken, an intimate mixture of carbonaceous material and air, sometimes with the addition of steam. The constituents of this mixture are admitted together, and virtually they are mixed before or at the moment they enter the base of the furnace. I thereby insure much better results than if the carbonaceous material and the air were introduced into the furnace separately and made to interrningle there. The direction in which the mixture is projected, forms an angle with that exposed surface of the fuel against which it is projected, so that the mixture is forced" into the burning layer, practically over the entire extent of said sur face.

I claim as my invention 1. The process of producing gas for power and heating pur oses, which consists in preheating the fuel: then spreading it into a shallow burning layer of such dimensions that of itself it would produce a gas too rich in carbonic acid to be available for power or heatin purposes, withdrawing as from one of the road surfaces of said sha low burning layer, and pro'ecting against the other broad surface of sai layer and at an angle to said surface, an intimate mixture of air and carbonaceous material.

2. The, process of producing gas for power and heating purposes, which consists in spreading the fuel into a shallow burning layer having two exposed surfaces of relatively large dimensions at a relatively small distance from each other, withdrawing gas from one of the broad exposed surfaces of said shallow burning layer, and projecting against the other broad exposed surface of said layer and at an angle to said surface, an intimate mixture of air, steam, and carbonaceous material.

3. The process of producing gas for power and heatin purposes, which consists in distilling the uel at a relatively low temperature and removing the tar vapors, then spreading the distil ed fuel, substantially free from tar vapors, into a shallow burning layer having two exposed surfaces of relatively large dimensions at a relatively small distance from each other, said layer being of such dimensions that of itself it would produce a gas too rich in carbonic acid to be available for power or heating pur oses, withdrawing gas from one of the road exposed surfaces of said burning layer, and pro'ecting against the other broad exposed su ace of said layer and at an angle to said surface, an intimate mixture of air with the tar-vapors removed at the first stage of the process,

4. The process of producing gas for power and heating purposes, which consists in preheating the fuel, then spreading it into a shallow burning layer of such dimensions that of itself it'would produce a gas too rich in carbonic acid to be available for power or heating pur oses, withdrawing gas from one of the brow surfaces of said shallow burning layer, and projecting against the other broad surface of said layer and at an angle to said surface, an intimate mixture of air, steam, and carbonaceous material.

5. The process of producing gas for power and heating purposes, which consists in spreading the fuel into a shallow burning layer having two exposed surfaces of relatively lar e dimensions at a relatively small distance 'rom each other, withdrawing gas from one of the broad exposed surfaces of said shallow burning layer, and projecting against themther broad exposed surface of said layer and at an angle to said surface, an

intimate mixture of air and carbonaceous material.

6. The process of producing gas for power and heatin r purposes, which consists in distilling the uel at a relatively low 'temperature and removing the tar vapors, then spreading the distilled fuel, substantially free from tar vapors, into a shallow burning layer having two exposed surfaces of relatively large dimensions at a relatively small distance from each other, said layer being of such dimensions that of itself it would produce a gas too rich in carbonic acid to be available for power or heating purposes, withdrawing gas from one of the broad exposed surfaces of said burning layer, and proj jectin against the other broad exposed sur'ace 0' said layer and at an angle to said surface, an intimate mixture of air and steam with the tar vapors removed at the first stage of the process.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

FRITZ BAUKE.

Witnesses HENRY HAsPER, WOLDEMAR HAUPT. 

